Richard Holbrooke, the Obama Administration's new point man for a troubled region, is familiar with tough assignments. But can he balance what the U.S. needs with what Pakistan wants?

Last spring, Richard Holbrooke outlined his prescription for what ails Pakistan in the Washington Post. In U.S. dealings with Islamabad, Holbrooke argued, "the message should be clear and consistent: democracy, reconciliation, the military out of politics, a new policy for the tribal areas--and more democracy."

It was a high-minded solution that would work at 30,000 feet. But the Holbrooke who arrives in Islamabad on Feb. 9, not as a columnist but as President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, will have to deal with ugly reality on the ground. Faced with a failing Afghanistan, the U.S. needs Pakistan's government...